Little Hearts
by primary colours123
Summary: Maybe she was lying and manipulating, or maybe, the little girl was breaking her own heart. Sakura in 469-470. Naru-Saku.


**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto. It belongs to its owners. This fanfiction has been written for entertainment purposes only, and no financial benefits are derived from it.**

**SUMMARY: Maybe she was lying and manipulating, but maybe, the little girl was breaking her own heart. Sakura in 469-470. Naru-Saku.**

**A/N: I was writing Legends when this hit me. And I had to write it. This is Sakura in 469-470. I know this is probably too late for posting this, and many of you will disagree with me, but I just want to state that Mr Kishimoto kept it ambiguous enough for multiple interpretations. This one is mine.**

**For all the Naruto-Sakura supporters. (Hope you guys appreciate this effort, though I am pretty poor at portraying romance.)**

xXxXxXxXxXx

She knew she should not have gone there.

But how could she not? The little girl who had always dreamt of fairly tales and happy endings and _forever afters_, just wanted to see him. _Even if it was only for the time being, with no forever afters._

She had hugged him. The first time in her life she initiated such a contact without any external pressures. The forest of death, long long time ago, (_or had it been another lifetime_?) had been the heat of the moment and inescapable impending disaster, spurring her into action. But today, right now, she had wanted this. Maybe she would not have done this anytime soon on her own, but she had_ such_ little time left.

She was not even sure if she will ever see him again.

And just for that _**maybe**_, here she was, holding him close. Inhaling as deeply as possible, just wanting to imprint him forever in her memory.

She was selfish, had always been so. But right now, there was only one person in her conscious thoughts,_** him**__._

He and her inexplicable devotion to him.

She knew after this admission, whatever his reply, she will be leaving him. For what would most probably be her last mission. If not, definitely her last chance at love from him. She knew, whether she kills Sasuke, or gets killed by him, she will lose _him_ forever. Either to death or to hatred.

_And she knew which one she preferred._

But something was wrong. _Why wasn't he hugging her back? _He didn't believe her? Or maybe he didn't want her anymore? Or maybe he had never wanted her. After all wasn't it_ Sai_, of all people who told her of his love?

But she _**was**_telling the truth. She did feel safe with him. Around him, she felt content. Near him she felt invincible.

_But why wasn't he hugging her back?_

Even If he did not want her, was she not his friend? Don't people hug their friends back? _Damn,_ he was robbing her of whatever little confidence and hope she had. Hope, that once, just maybe once, for however brief a time, she will experience the feeling of being the most important being in someone's life.

_She knew it won't be enough_.

It'll _never_ be enough for her, but if he would just hold her near, she swore she will live a lifetime in that moment.

"Why?"

"_Why?" "Why?" "Why?"_

What kind of a question was _that_? How could anyone tell _why _she fell in love with him, when she herself had no idea? She had no idea when the boy became the most important person in her life. It was as if one morning she woke up and realized he had always been there, at the top of her list.

_What should she say?_** That **she was at a loss for words? **That** she didn't know; didn't have a single clue. **That** until recently, it had been unknown even to her that she was head over heels for him? She _still_ thought of him as the goofball with no social grace, the idiot who had no sense of self preservation, the ramen guzzler who _definitely_ needed some vegetables in his diet. _Then what had changed? _How could she make him realize that _nothing has changed, yet everything was different?_

So she stated what she thought must be the obvious. Haltingly, slowly… clumsily, since she really was thinking hard. She was trying to cover the fact that there was not a reason for everything. There was no reason that she found him better than his rival. He was just better, and _dammit, wasn't it obvious? Why make her say all that?_ She knew she was no poet, and the disbelieving look in his eyes was making her lose whatever coherence she was working on. God, did he have no mercy? Did he not know how hard it was to confess your love, _and how much harder it was to justify it?_

True, twelve years old Sakura had crushed on his rival, even loved him. But had he not noted that this fifteen year old Sakura only had him on her mind? She had no idea when the reason for bringing Sasuke back changed from getting her love back, to getting team seven back together, to getting Naruto's brother back. She did not notice, and apparently, neither did he.

He still didn't hug her back_. Why? Why? Why?_ Instead his fingers dug into her shoulders.

"_I hate people who lie to themselves."_

Sakura stopped breathing.

"Did you mean… I'm lying to myself?" She was surprised to find her voice so calm and level. When in reality she wanted to laugh hysterically, or maybe cry inconsolably, she had no idea.

All her life, she had been flippant with Naruto, always believing that even if the whole world disbelieved her, he would be by her side. Always knowing that he would be there, never driven away by her temper or by her harsh, but well meaning, behavior. Accepting her, just as she is. But really, the one time, the one _and maybe last_ time when she is being brutally honest with him, telling him her deepest secrets, which she never had the guts to remind herself about, he doesn't believe her? Seriously, _fate __**had **__a lousy sense of humor._

God, was she going to be punished for being a child?

_Weird_ that she would come such a long way to tell him something like _that_? Yeah, like _"__**that**__"!_ Did he not know how hard it was? Did he not know it was even harder than deciding to kill Sasuke? Did he not understand how difficult it would be for her to leave him, most probably forever, or to face his hatred after confessing to him? Did he not understand, she had to come all this way to him to confess before finding Sasuke because she never wanted to leave him with regrets and doubts? She wanted him to know before she left that he was not a loser. He had won over Sakura's heart, from right under Sasuke's nose, how could he be a loser? She wanted him to know, if she died, that she never held him responsible for not fulfilling that damning promise he made.

_Did he not understand she had to see him one last time?_

But the truth was that _**he did not know, **_and that was how she wanted it.

"This has nothing to do with my promise to you."

Sakura was surprised and she did not even bother to hide it. Maybe it was better that he didn't return her words, or did not currently believe her. She reasoned with herself, that it will definitely lead to less pain for him if she died, of if she did something which he would consider betrayal.

But he was hiding something from her, both he and Kakashi sensei. About Sasuke. Which was big enough for him to go back from his words. Big enough for him to listen to Kakashi sensei.

They did not even consider her a member of team seven, and it stung, _**badly**_.

"Okay then, I'm going back home."

She realized that she was portraying a haughty girl denied her candy pretty well. Ino would've been proud.

She just hoped that she was good enough for nobody to see through her façade to her broken heart. To see through her deception to her real intent. _Home was with Naruto_, and maybe she will never be home again.

"_Naruto! I'm so sorry."_

**A/N: Really, no plot here, just musings. But this oneshot is close to my heart. Please do share your views on it. This is just one of the many possible interpretations of the highly controversial scene.**

**I shall return to Legends soon.**

**All comments and suggestions are most welcome. If you find any spellings or grammatical mistakes, please point them out in your review.**

**Thanks for your time.**

**Take care.**


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